What’s the difference between Wireframe, Prototype & Mockup?

The terms wireframe, prototype, and mockup are frequently utilized interchangeably, yet they are not the same. This blog post clarifies what separates them and how they are utilized.

Wireframes

A wireframe is a two-dimensional sketch of a page’s interface that particularly concentrates on space designation and prioritization of content, functionalities accessible, and proposed practices. Wireframing in a team usually develops quickly since iterations can readily integrate new ideas, input, and usability needs. Wireframes do not demonstrate detail but create a simple design that guides the project and its team members.

The Value of Wireframes:

Wireframes fill various needs by serving to:

Interface the site’s information architecture to its visual design by indicating paths between pages.

Clarify consistent ways for showing specific sorts of data on the UI.

Decide proposed usefulness in the interface.

Organize content through the assurance of how much space to allocate to a given item and where that item is found.

Which Things Need to Keep in Mind While Creating Wireframes?

It’s important to remember that wireframes are advisers for where the real navigation and content elements of your site will show up on the page.

Do not use colors.

Do not use Images.

Use only one generic font.

Types of Wireframes:

Low and high-fidelity are terms used to identify the level of wireframe production or functionality.

Low-fidelity wireframes: It helps to simplify project team communication and are relatively quick to develop. They tend to be more abstract because they often use simple images to block off space and implement mock content, or Lorem ipsum text as filler for content and labels.

High-fidelity wireframes: They are better for documentation because of their expanded level of detail. These wireframes regularly incorporate data about every specific thing on the page, including measurements, behavior, as well as activities identified with an interactive element.

Prototypes

A prototype is an interactive representation of the final product and by definition more detailed than a wireframe. A prototype can be anything from paper drawings (low-fidelity) to something that allows click-through of a few pieces of content to a fully functioning site (high-fidelity). A prototype should be similar to the final product. Well-researched and orchestrated interactions need to closely model the user experience (UX).

If you’re not a developer, I highly recommend having a prototype to pitch your idea to friends, family and potential investors. The only thing that missing is functionality. It can give you a feeling of using a real app, but they are only images connected with each other.

Prototypes are interactive.

They model the user experience.

They enable extensive user testing.

High Fidelity Prototype Vs Low Fidelity Prototype

When multiple pages of mockup are made to be clickable, mockups can be transferred to be a prototype, this is high fidelity prototype.

When multiple pages of wireframes are made to be clickable, wireframes can be transferred to be a prototype, this is low fidelity prototype.

Mockups

Mockup delivers the visual look of product design. A mockup is a static design representation in which the corporate identity is applied through color, typography and visual style. Mockups can be drafts that turn into the final look of the solution. Mockup enables UI/product designers to collect the feedback on part of the visual look of product in a quick way.

Mockups apply the corporate identity.

They can be close to the solution’s final look-and-feel.

They are useful for user testing and acceptance.

Try not to confound these three terms. Depending on the project and the problems you need to solve, you may have to create up to all of them. The design is a stage that faces a lot of decisions from your side and labor from the designer’s side, but the result clarifies tasks for developers, which is essential for making estimates for execution.

Hello, my name is Rushik Patel and I am the founder of Pxelperfect which is my design studio and graphic design blog. I specialize in graphic design, branding, web design and offer design services to businesses of all sizes around the world, ultimately improving their bottom line by crafting creative solutions to their business problems.

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